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Can a University Transform a City?

One successful partnership has been the Mantua Urban Peace Garden. With no fresh food market, not even a grocery store, Mantua is considered a “food desert.” And so, in 2013, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society partnered with Drexel to build an urban farm in the neighborhood. “People lined up to be able to get a plot,” says Vice Provost Lucy Kerman. “It’s been hugely successful.” Today, kale, cabbage and collard greens abound. And Drexel students help Mantua residents maintain their plots and harvest what they have grown.

Above, Shonea James, one of the Peace Garden coordinators, tends to her plot with her family.